Nigeria’s leading financial institution, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank), appears to have fallen victim to a cyberattack, with its domain address (gtbank.com) inaccessible as of Wednesday night.
The incident occurred just a day after the domain name was renewed for another five years, from August 13, 2024, through March 21, 2029, according to multiple domain analysis platforms.
While no hacker group has claimed responsibility for the attack, the perpetrators seem to have created an additional HTTP layer on the website, possibly in an attempt to steal customers’ data through phishing.
A cybersecurity expert with experience in the Nigerian banking sector suggested that the bank’s login details might have been compromised, rather than the domain address being stolen for resale.
GTBank customers have already taken to social media to express their frustration, with many commenting on the platform X (formerly Twitter) about their inability to access the website for transactions. Bank representatives on X have urged customers to be patient and direct their requests to a designated channel.
Despite the domain compromise, GTBank’s mobile infrastructure appears to be unaffected, with its Android and iOS applications still operational at the time of reporting.
As one of Nigeria’s largest banks, serving millions of customers in Nigeria and other African countries, GTBank has yet to issue an official statement regarding the incident. A spokesperson for the bank did not immediately respond to a request for comment.